The Promise

By Tricia Nelson

"We can do that,” my husband promised our second daughter, who shared the vision for her upcoming outdoor evening wedding reception on the front acreage of our family’s country home. Her dream included extensive feet of twinkly vintage lightbulbs strung across the wood farmhouse tables for guests. We were tickled that she thought we could pull it off, yet we felt the weight of making her twinkly vision turn into reality. The night before the wedding, as I stared out at the expansive yard and looked at the paper map he had thoughtfully prepared, I wasn’t so sure he could deliver on his promise.

In the ancient world, the title of “firstborn” carried great honor and privilege for the role. The title equated to a birthright, a large, if not double, portion of the inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:7), and a paternal blessing. It was preferential treatment that would cause sweat to bead on the brows of most parents today. The roles and responsibilities were “primogeniture” in nature, meaning the right of inheritance was typically assigned to the eldest male versus female, regardless of actual birth order, unless there were no males in the family (1).

Yet, with great privilege came great responsibility. The firstborn male would be expected to manage the inheritance of a family’s assets, including land, and assume the role of leadership in the home. He would care for the mother and family members as needed when the father passed away or was unable to fulfill his paternal role. This was critical in biblical times because the stability of provision centered more on the familial unit and the management of the inheritance than the outcome of a vocational trade (2).

The birthright structure was a solid setup for firstborns, guarded through the design of the law (Deuteronomy 21:15–17). However, a firstborn could choose to forgo the privilege and responsibility by selling his birthright, which happened between Jacob and Esau for a bowl of stew. The stew was presumably tantalizing and tasty in the moment, but bitter, metaphorically, in the aftertaste when Esau realized what he forfeited through tears of pleading (Hebrews 12:16–17). Birthrights could also be taken away from the firstborn due to sin, as noted in Genesis 49. Generational transitions of blessing did not always transpire without a glitch for the firstborn in those scenarios. A father’s disappointment and angst were undoubtedly palpable in those circumstances of marred opportunity, yet provision would continue through an appointed male.

The firstborn stepped into a leadership role to ensure the family would continue to be cared for and led well. Big shoulders were needed to carry such a load, but in this way, the ancient world structured provision and blessing from one generation to the next. Presumably there were times where that male, though he was called to the job, questioned the “blessing” of the arrangement as he navigated his responsibilities as a firstborn.

In a similar, stirring generational framework of blessing, Abraham is given a promise. In the span of Genesis 12 through Genesis 18, God promises to bless Abraham in multiple ways: in posterity and land, by being justified through his faith, and by carrying out the covenant for all humanity through his line with the promise of the Messiah. The promises seemed implausible to an old man with a barren wife. Yet God patiently stated, restated, and added to His promises over the course of time as Abraham aged (Genesis 12–18). Unlike the human structure of firstborn promise, Yahweh, the covenant God (3), does not rescind the blessing and promises, even in the recorded instances where Abraham and his family members fell short (4). God repeated and affirmed the promises to Abraham’s son, Isaac, and to Isaac’s son, Jacob. And in Exodus 3:6, God reinforced the power of this generational covenant by stating, “… I am … the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Did Abraham feel a big responsibility on his shoulders through the promises being made? Perhaps. Yet even in a period of waiting for all of those promises to be fulfilled, Romans 4:20–21 notes this about Abraham: “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised" (5). Abraham was living in his role as firstborn in a covenantal blessing. He demonstrated faith that God always delivers on his promises from generation to generation!

Nelson, the director of family engagement in a multigenerational family business, lives in Kandiyohi, Minn. Artwork: “Esau Selling His Birthright,” copy after Paulus Moreelse, 1609, Rijksmuseum.

Footnotes

1. biblestudytools.com/dictionary/firstborn/

2. bibleproject.com/podcast/gods-response-human-powerstructures/#:~:text=In%20patriarchal%20cultures%2C%20 firstborn%20sons,because%20of%20their%20birth%20 order.

3. NIV Women’s Study Bible, 2018 Thomas Nelson

4. desiringgod.org/messages/the-covenant-of-abraham

5. NIV Women’s Study Bible